Speaker Spotlight: Vera Manhoso

• Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2025 takes place this week on October 7th and 8th.
• The event will feature a host of talks, panels, seminars and networking opportunities.

Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2025 takes place on October 7th and 8th this week, bringing together more than 1,500 delegates from more than 50 countries for two days of speakers, sessions, networking, and learning.

Across this 12th edition of the event, you can expect PGC's trademark array of talks, panels and seminars covering a variety of games industry topics from AI and automation, to live ops, monetisation and more.

One of the many experts taking to the stage is Vera Manhoso, a Gaming Account Director at RTB House, specialising in retargeting advertising within the gaming industry. With a strong background in programmatic advertising, she focuses on developing strategic retargeting campaigns that effectively re-engage core audiences and maximise player retention and lifetime value.

We spoke to Manhoso to find out more about her session at PGC Helsinki and her thoughts on the challenges facing the mobile games market.

Please give us a summary of what you’re speaking about and why it’s important

As player acquisition costs continue to rise, and the market becomes increasingly saturated with limited new player pools, retention and re-engagement have never been more crucial for growth.

Think retargeting is too complex? Vera will take the mystery out of retargeting and show how easy it is to get started, how to continuously improve results, and why retargeting is one of the most impactful tools in mobile gaming today.

What’s the most common mistake you see being made in the games sector?

Speaking specifically about mobile programmatic advertising, one of the biggest mistakes I see is heavy investment in user acquisition (UA) campaigns, with little to no focus on retargeting (RT). The users you already know are your most valuable asset. Ensuring you retain and re-engage them helps maximise the value of your UA spend.

I often hear advertisers say they don’t invest in RT because their priority is UA, yet they frequently end up paying several times more to reacquire those same users through UA campaigns. Fortunately, retargeting is gradually becoming a part of more advertisers' strategies, and it's a very welcome and necessary shift.

If you could give other mobile games companies one piece of advice, what would it be?

I would recommend maintaining a strong balance between UA and RT, and integrating RT campaigns early, rather than waiting until your game is more mature. That mindset is outdated. We're now seeing more advertisers preparing their RT strategies right from launch, which is a much more effective approach.

Alongside that, allow enough time for testing, and make sure you're confident in your setup and audience segmentation. It may not deliver immediate results, but when done right, it’s well worth the investment.    

What is the single biggest challenge facing the mobile games industry today?

One of the biggest challenges is still adapting to the post-IDFA landscape on iOS. The loss of deterministic user-level data has made it harder to run and measure effective retargeting campaigns.

Without access to IDFA, in RT advertisers are forced to rely on more limited deterministic campaigns or probabilistic methods, which lack the precision needed for accurate targeting and optimisation. It’s an industry-wide challenge that continues to evolve, and it requires both technical innovation and strategic flexibility.    

What was the fundamental appeal of the mobile games industry that brought you to it?

Honestly, it’s the people. I’ve never worked in such a friendly, supportive, and collaborative environment, where everyone’s genuinely keen to share knowledge and work together to get great results. Plus, the industry's constantly evolving, which keeps things interesting. There’s always something new to learn or figure out!

Can people get in touch with you at the event? What sort of people would you like to connect with?

Absolutely, I’d love that! I’m always excited to meet new people, whether it’s to chat about retargeting or anything else in the mobile space. I really enjoy helping others, but I’m also constantly learning from the amazing people in this industry. So if you’re up for exchanging ideas, diving into all things retargeting, or just sharing the best tips in town, definitely come say hi!